Pats trying to preserve a number of divisional streaks vs. Bills

By PAUL KENYON

Saturday

Dec 28, 2013 at 9:57 PM

FOXBORO — The Patriots have already won another AFC East title, their fifth in a row and 10th in the last 11 years. On Sunday, though, the Pats will be trying to keep an even more impressive streak alive...

FOXBORO — The Patriots have already won another AFC East title, their fifth in a row and 10th in the last 11 years. On Sunday, though, the Pats will be trying to keep an even more impressive streak alive when they host Buffalo at Gillette Stadium in the regular-season finale.

As good as their overall record has been since the NFL went through realignment in 2002, the Pats have been even more dominant in their own division. Never under the current alignment has New England lost to all three of its divisional rivals in the same season.

In fact, New England has never lost three games in total within the division. Its worst record is 4-2, which it has done four times. It has been 5-1 five times. And it went 6-0 twice. The overall record heading into this season was 53-13.

All streaks are on the line Sunday.

This season, the Patriots beat the Jets in their first meeting, then lost the second time around. They beat Miami the first time the teams met, then lost in the return match. They beat Buffalo in the season opener, albeit by only two points on a Stephen Gostkowski field goal with five seconds left in the game. Obviously, New England’s goal Sunday afternoon will be to make sure this season’s pattern does not continue.

While the Patriots will be favored to beat the Bills, they are certainly not taking them for granted considering all the unexpected happenings that have taken place this season.

“I’m really impressed with the way they’ve been playing, obviously the way they played last week against Miami (a 19-0 victory),” said Pats coach Bill Belichick. “It’s a good football team; explosive offensively, second-leading team on the ground in the league, doing a good job. They’ve got a lot of explosive players. We know about (C.J.) Spiller and Stevie Johnson, those guys, (Scott) Chandler; a good complementary group. Defensively a very strong unit up front, a lot of disruptive players: rush the passer, turn the ball over, second in the league in interceptions, first in the league in sacks. It’s been a highly productive group.”

Buffalo comes in with the same AFC East record as the Patriots (3-2). A victory would give the Bills the best record in divisional games, a not-insignificant achievement for a team that believes it is on the upswing.

“We haven’t been to the playoffs in a long period of time and obviously the fastest way to get in the playoffs is to have the ability to win the division,” said Buffalo’s first-year coach, Doug Marrone. “I think that we talk about things within the division quite a bit and we have a good division. New England has been elite in this division for a long period of time; you have New York and you have Miami. It’s a tough division. It’s one that’s very challenging for us.”

Buffalo has not taken part in the postseason since 1999. It has not won a playoff game since 1995. At 6-9, it is on the outside looking in once again, but the team is showing that it still has desire. It has won its last two.

Marrone says there is no magic formula to catching up with the Patriots, who have won 18 of the last 19 meetings between the teams. Tom Brady has never lost to the Bills at home. He is 11-0. Buffalo has never won a game in Gillette Stadium. Marrone points to one key for his team to have a chance to pull the upset.

“I think the most important thing is to not turn the ball over. I think we as coaches talk about that quite a bit. When you look at the success that New England has, and not to take anything away from how they’re coached or their players, but if you turn the ball over against them, you’ve pretty much diminished if not took out any possible opportunity of winning a game,” he said.

Buffalo will be going with Thad Lewis at quarterback. EJ Manuel, the rookie who started the opener against the Patriots, has a knee injury. He practiced on a limited basis this week, but the team announced Friday that Lewis would get the start Sunday afternoon.

“He’s an athletic quarterback. He’s fast as well,” said Pats defensive end Chandler Jones. “He can make big plays with his feet and his arm. He’s another guy we’ve got to contain.”

While the Pats can finish anywhere from first to fourth in the AFC seedings, the theme all week in the locker room was not to focus on trying to get a bye. Everyone follows Belichick’s lead, which is to worry only about the opponent they are facing. The coach was asked whether he will be watching scores from earlier games.

Could they affect how he has his team play?

“No, I’m not planning on it,” he responded. “I know when we walked onto the field for the Baltimore game last week, I saw the score up on the board and that’s really the first time I saw that Buffalo beat Miami. There’s nothing we can do about any of those games. Whatever they are, they are. We just have to concentrate on what we’re doing. We need to do it for us. We’re not really worried about what anybody else is doing.”

Well, how about the Denver game, which starts at the same time and could mean a difference in being the first or second seed?

“Again, I’m not even thinking about that. It’s not even on my radar,” he said. He does not want his players to worry about it, either.

“They know that if we win, we’re into the second round of the playoffs. If we don’t win, we’re most likely playing in the first round of the playoffs and that’s really all there is to know,” he said. “Who, what, when — none of that, who knows? You have to be a mathematician and have great, great vision to figure that out. We know what we can control. If we can win, we can get into the second round of the playoffs. We know that. I think right now that’s probably all we care about.”

The Pats have had a first-round bye in the playoffs each of the last three years. If they earn another one this time, they would tie the record of having a first-round bye four years in a row.

The Patriots’ record in the AFC East since realignment in 2002:

2002 — 4-2

2003 — 5-1

2004 — 5-1

2005 — 5-1

2006 — 4-2

2007 — 6-0

2008 — 4-2

2009 — 4-2

2010 — 5-1

2011 — 5-1

2012 — 6-0

2013 — 3-2

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.